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disband

UK/dɪsˈbænd/
verbC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,385 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: disbanded, disbanding, disbands

To disband is to break a group up for good. Disband the unit, the band disbanded, ordered to disband.

The permanence is what distinguishes it from suspending or standing down — a disbanded regiment does not come back, and disbanding one is a political act as much as a military one. It is used of bands, committees and armies alike. Note that the word is dis- plus band, from a Frankish word for a troop, so disbanding is literally untying the group.

Definitions of disband

  1. 1verbdisbandTo break a group up for good.C1

    “The band disbanded after their lead singer left to start a family.”

disband is a breaking up.

Where it comes from

Middle French desbander is des- plus bande, a troop or band, from a root meaning to tie. Bind, bandage and bond come from the same tying.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *bʰendʰ- — to tie

  2. Middle French

    desbander

  3. English, today

    disband

Attested since the 1590s, from Middle French desbander (Modern French débander), from des- (English dis-) + bande (English band), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). by surface analysis, dis- + band.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

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disband in the wild

  • The attempt was largely unsuccessful, and in 2005 the New National Party voted to disband itself.

    New National Party (South Africa)

  • In 2014, Henderson and Willis decided to disband once again.

    Tribal Tech

  • As his term was coming to an end, the Senate ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome.

    Crossing the Rubicon

  • District voters in 1989 chose to disband the district.

    Westminster Independent School District

  • In April 2011, ahead of the local elections, Jiyane and the SADECO Federal Council voted to disband the party and join the much larger Democratic Alliance.

    South African Democratic Congress

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • band